froyo ma: pants

Last time you heard about Zack Villere (aka Froyo Ma) here at No Smoking was when he visited NYC for a savory beat-centric showcase at Manhattan video game gallery Babycastles alongside some of our favorite bleep-bloopers. Just last night, he released a short but meaty EP entitled pants that has everything from mellow clicky hip-hop verses to emphatically emotional instrumental synth arrangements – keep scrolling, and I’ll introduce you.

The EP begins with a sentimental and delicate (even sort of wheedling) elegiac minute-long track called “berrymilk sea,” a sure sign that Zack’s talents are not restricted to beats and bloops. “spent missing” is a strong second track that features Charlotte Day Wilson, a vocal-centric groovy number that switches back and forth between more moderate-tempo funk vibes and beat-repeating IDM influence.

“there” is an extremely relaxed affair that sounds more jazzy than anything else on the record, with near-wordless vocal melodies neatly complementing guitar comps and juicy bass licks. The kit on this one sounds almost squeaky, like if you had one of those jelly tube toys from the 90s and squeezed it to the beat with your hand. This is probably my favorite track… but I’m not sure? It’s always a good sign when I have trouble picking.

“squid limbo” is a mix between the sort of downtempo synth-pad mellow groove that so characterizes froyo ma’s style and a more gaudy, Gorillaz-esque rap segment that jumps up on you after the 2 minute mark. Really, I can’t emphasize enough the extent to which this album is both cohesive and infinitely varied – the fact that I shy away from assigning genre tags to this is indicative of its brimming creativity and finesse. I won’t take you through the last two tracks with my words because I want to leave some surprises for you (dat Arca influence on track 5, seriously), but seriously, you should get off of my site and go buy this music right now.

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No Smoking Media is a regularly updated and hand curated feed of music releases, free from hierarchical judgment and included regardless of press coverage. Our priority is for our readers to discover good, creative music that they might not otherwise hear, and for artists we admire to gain a wider audience and be recognized for their musical excellence.